From Gondolas to Gondolas

We were “Under the Tuscan Sun” when NE Oklahoma started to go under water. Our Good to Go travelers took in the sights on our recent visit to Italy. We mingled with the locals as we traveled streets that have been in place since Roman times. Montecatini bubbled with fountains and Italian beauty as we jumped out of jet lag mode and began explore. We took a day trip to Florence. In the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die,  this Renaissance city is captioned with this quote:
 

“The god who created the hills around Florence
was an artist. No! He was a jeweler, engraver,
sculptor, bronze founder and painter:
He was a Florentine.” ~ Anatole France

And Florence has attracted people with the same gifts. It’s a bit of time travel, as we made our way down cobbled streets and lingered in piazzas. The aroma of strong coffees served in tiny little cups waft through the sidewalk cafes. Churches and cathedrals beckon visitors with the chiming of bells. Our guides wave their hands to gesture each word that swiftly leaves their tongue. The Italian language is a beautiful thing to hear… and watch.

But a hush falls over the crowd when standing in the presence of David. The fifteen-foot tall marble beauty sculpted by 29-year-old Michangelo in 1501, has been leaving viewers in awe for centuries. The piece was controversial at the time because, Michangelo’s David was a thoughtful looking man, not the rock-slinging-shepherd boy that had been depicted over and over from the Biblical story.   The Galleria dell’Accademia, is filled with paintings and pieces by names I think I was suppose to remember from Art History Class. 

We spend two nights on Venice. Venice… the backdrop for many romantic movies and greeting cards. We arrive by boat taxi, and kinda want to pinch ourselves that we are here. We open our hotel windows and look over the waterways bustling with tourist boats, personal transportation and boats that handle the work of the city. The garbage boats make early morning runs and have a neat system of picking up bundles of trash and compacting it within their hulls. But it’s the gondolas that everyone uses to identify Venice.

Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, it’s overpriced. Yes, it’s kinda cheesy, but… it’s Venice! The gondoliers wear the blue and white striped sweaters, and a few don the straw boater’s hat with the ribbon but… they don’t sing. That’s just Hollywood. But hanging out our hotel window, we enjoyed a few cruisers who paid extra to have an accordion player onboard to complete the scene. Night time fell over the maze of tiny streets and passageways, and the last of the boaters plied their way into visitors’ memories. 

Leaving Italy, we traveled north through more tunnels than we could count, to Engelberg, Switzerland. Another postcard experience, this Swiss villa is nestled in the valley at the foot of Mount Titlis. The newest attraction here is the revolving gondola that takes us to the 10,627 foot peak of the snow covered mountain.  We hear the views are amazing, but sadly we had a foggy, snowy, cloudy day.

But, we still had fun (and I’ve got the video to prove it!)

The forecast surprised us and called for more snow, and we woke up to a scene from a Christmas card as 12 inches of white stuff fell overnight. We put on multiple layers of clothes, some wore socks for gloves and we mused over sunny Tuscany as we plowed through the snowy Swiss. Travel is an adventure!